Discussion

Shabbat meals

I am going to cook for a guy I like very much for shabbat dinner and shabbat lunch. Any suggestins of what I should make to win his heart. He does like brocolli,cauliflower, mushrooms,onion and garlic. He does not like tomatoes and zucchini unfortunately because I make a killer fresh tomato shoup. All your help is appreciated

Hands down, try "engagement chicken." Google it and you'll find a number of sites that feature both the recipe and it's provenance. Basically roasted chicken with lots of lemon and some garlic. I'd serve it with one of those mixed rices topped with sauted garlic. Vegan chocolate mousse or vegan cheesecake for the meat dessert. Right now asparagus is in season and asparagus and a mixed green salad would work for both dinner and lunch. You can take the left over chicken and make a chicken salad for lunch. You are wise to approach your guy this way. I cooked my way into my guy's heart and we've been married for 23 years.

I love it an dlove the name too. This is my second time dating as i am newly divorced. Now the question is should i make it at home which is nj and take it to md or bring or buy ingredients and make it in his house.

Depends on how well you know his kitchen. If you aren't used to the kind of oven and stove top he has, you could run into some snags. Also equipment. Either way, you'd want to be very organized about the whole thing. How long would the transport take, how to wrap and carry either the ingredients and equipment or the dinner. ideally, you cook in your own kitchen and he comes to your place to eat. If that's not in the cards, you'll want to consider the logistics of transport and possible reheat or using his stove.

If you're driving, plan a menu with many items that travel well: desserts, side dishes, perhaps something like grilled London broil to be sliced and served cold wtih good mustard, cold slaw and warm kugel for Shabbat lunch.

Take the chicken to Maryland, and roast it there. But take everything you need in the way of ingredients or equipment with you. You might do one or two other dishes there. But, if you're driving, plan a meal that you can mostly cook in N.J. and bring with you.

You don't want to make it feel too much as though you are "invading" his kitchen, you don't want to be frantically cooking a whole meal in a new kitchen on what is supposed to be a date, you don't want to be "pestering" him about where the roasting pan is stored, and you don't want stuff to turn out wrong because of an familiar kitchen.